Clanker

Clanker is a notable character in the Banjo-Kazooie franchise and can be found for the first time in the game’s third world, known as Clanker’s Cavern. As a gargantuan aquatic creature, he has a rather unusual appearance, with the body of a cyborg shark and a blowhole of a whale, which raises questions about his actual species. Despite the uncertainty of his real origin, the questions in Grunty’s Furnace Fun always identify him as a whale. One can observe that Clanker has bits of organic material sticking out of his entire body, which appear to be deep skin tissue, suggesting a deteriorating state. Gruntilda uses Clanker as her garbage disposal, leading to his unfortunate condition. Clanker is attached to a heavy chain in a deep part of the cavern, requiring Banjo and Kazooie to swim through a golden key three times to free him. If Banjo and Kazooie fail to pick up the Jiggy after rescuing him, they’ll have to start over again. Moreover, players can enter Clanker through his teeth, blowhole, or gills, and Clanker always keeps an eye on their movements. In the beta version of the game, Clanker was depicted as a live, organic creature. Several screenshots revealed Clanker opening his mouth wide after losing his teeth, but this feature was not included in the final version of Banjo-Kazooie. Furthermore Clanker can also be seen in the background of the course Clanker’s River in Banjo-Pilot. In the game Banjo-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, Clanker is a part of Banjoland, but Lord of Games has separated him into multiple areas. His head protrudes from the wall as an exhibit, and his teeth are displayed separately. A part of his body containing spinning blades serves as a small tunnel, while the remainder of him is lodged into the ground as a ramp and bridge. One of the Jiggy-Challenges in the game involves protecting Clanker’s eyes from being stolen by Gruntbots, although his blowhole is notably absent in this game. Despite his initial appearance as a frightening character, Clanker is still a beloved character in the series.